Lorraine Ball

After one of the longest recessions in the last 50 years, many of us have forgotten how to operate our businesses in an expansionary economy. But the recession is over, and it is time for a change in strategy! In today’s podcast I talk about the single most important strategy for small business owners in the recovery … consumer spending!

Click here to  listen to the podcast.

 

 Stratetgies for a struggling economy: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

About a year ago, Ingrid Cummings invited me to be a guest on her radio program Rubicon Salon. In the course of the hour, we talked about marketing, social media and staying ahead of your competition in an economic downturn.

In this  segment, we talk about the shift in marketing strategies, from pushing to permission-based marketing and the challenges and the rewards for business owners who adopt this approach.

From the interview: “While the medium has changed, the fundamental methods have not.  It is still about identifying your customer and talking to your customers in the places they are most likely to find you!”

Click here to listen to the interview.

 

 Permission Based Marketing: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the first of two videos of my interviews with Mason King of the IBJ.

My favorite segment?  Mason asked me about being an entrepreneur.  My answer comes about 1/2 way in…

Recently, I sat down for a chat withMichael Reynolds, owner of Spin Web recently.  We talked about how small business owners can incorporate Twitter into their overall marketing strategy.

Michael suggests small business owners should make Twitter part of their overall networking plan, using it to extend relationships created at real life, “offline” events.

he “real time” nature of Twitter makes it a valuable search tool. Michael uses it to look for business opportunities and keep up with news and events.

In response to complaints that there is no time for Twitter, Michael says just like any other investment if it is “worth it to you, you make time for it.”

To hear the conversation simply click the link below.

 

 Twitter for Business: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For this second podcast,  I recruited my good friend Pat Milner to talk about  social media  from the perspective of a non-profit association.  Like me, she is a seasoned marketing professional, but  non-profit associations provide a set of challenges distinct from many of those in the for-profit sector.

Pat sees real opportunity for growth and message dissemination if non-profits  embrace social media.  It is a match made in heaven, allowing associations a chance to leverage their existing volunteers, and reach new audiences as well.

How are you using social media–in either sector? Leave a comment, I’d love to read it.

 

 Social Media and Non-Profit: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I have a busy few months ahead, with lots of public speaking engagements planned. Here is a short list of where you will be able to find me:

March 30 - Rainmaker’s Main Event
April 14 - Introduction to Business Planning
April 16 – 17 – Marketing by the Numbers, New Orleans
April 22 – Marketing Segmentation - Hullabaloo
April 27 - All Things Marketing Seminar
May 5 - Improve Your Website ROI
May 6 - From Random Strangers to Raving Fans
May 12 - Introduction to Business Planning

My most recent article for the ACH&RNews was published this week.  I am really enjoying getting reconnected to the HVAC industry.

I always enjoy reading Seth Godin’s blog.  Sometimes funny, sometimes, serious, and frequently thought provoking.  One of his recent posts entitled Be Careful Who You Work For hit home when he said:

How many job offers with good pay have you turned down in your lifetime? How many clients? Compare that to how many times you’ve been rejected. That’s totally out of whack. Great marketing involves having a great product, and not every job (or every client) is worth your time or attention or love.I wish I had read this post earlier this year. But maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it till I went through this experience.

We started working with client this past spring, our single biggest at that time. While I was excited about the revenue, there was this nagging feeling; we were not a great fit. A feeling I initially ignored as I deposited the retainer check in the bank.

The problem: they wouldn’t listen to us. Everything we recommended, they changed and changed, and changed, till the end product did not even resemble something we thought was a good idea. They nagged, and bullied, and monopolized our time. When the phone rang, everyone in the building tensed, hoping it wasn’t them.

When I wasn’t’ worrying about “That Client” I was nursing the emotional health of my team. The whole process was exhausting, and three months into the relationship we parted ways.

And while I missed the retainer check, I, along with my entire team, began to have fun again. It took a few months to recover, but today, I can honestly say, we have great clients, every one of them is worth both our attention, and love.

We will grow, perhaps more slowly because we will be selective, but we will enjoy the growth!

Thanks to Kyle Lacy I found out it is Blog Day.  This world wide celebration is designed to introduce great bloggers to each other, and novice bloggers to some of the best writers and thinkers on the net.

Kyle has already commented on some of my favorites:

Mike Fruchter at My Thoughts on Social Media:

Erik Deckers. The Laughing Stalk.

The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Karr.

They would all be in my top five, but the point of this activity is to introduce new blogs, so check out Kyle’s description of those, and then here are some others that make my top list.

1. Kyle Lacy – Ok, so I am not sure I would even know what a social network was if it wasn’t for Kyle.  An avid, possibly compulsive web junkie, he is continually trying out new sites, and sharing his opinions.  Which may include humor, attitude, and more than a little sarcasm.
2. Louis Gray - Who describes his blog as a Silicon Valley Blog for early adopters, technology geeks, RSS addicts and Mac freaks. Ok, so I have to admit, sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about, but his writes, and favorite picks are a great way to learn about what is new on the net.
   
3. Patric Welch – Alias Mr. Noobie boils down technology for the very, very novice.  I love his sense of humor when he describes his battles with technology. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Louis, but equally fun to read.
4. Is This Stupid? – Tina (aka stupid blogger) defines her site as an outlet to poke fun at some of the stupidest things she comes across. While much of the posts are about tech she doesn’t stop there.  As she says, the Internet doesn’t have a patent on stupid.  whether she is taking on Monkey Spankers or people who want to follow their houseplants on Twitter, she does it with attitude and a great sense of humor!
5. Ok, I’m done..   I know I should have another one, but honestly, by the time I am done reading these four, and the three above..  misc posts on SI and FriendFeed the day is over!

About two months ago I dove into FriendFeed the same way I dive into most social network platforms and tools, because Kyle Lacy sent me a link and said check it out.

Initially I loved it.   Friending lots of folks to get a sense of what was going on, driving all my links to the site as well.  See my first post on the topic,  I thought it would be a great time saver.  Then  I was overwhelmed by the content and backed away.

I have found a balance point, diving into the stream, then following  the trail to individuals who write about things which interest me.  And one of the things which is always of interest to me is whether or not a particular tool has a buiness application.

FriendFeed is a great resarch tool, a bit disjointed, but a good way to track trends and new technology.  i definately knew more about Cuil within hours of it’s launch then I ever thought possible, so it feeds the info junkie part of my nature, but back to the basic question is there a business application for FriendFeed and does there need to be?